NZ Festival of Tennis

Overview

New Zealand, go down to the tennis court (intentional pun, sorry) from 5 - 17 January for your much-needed dose of watching athletic gods swing racquets at little 59.4-gram rubber yellow balls flying at up to 263.4km/per hour. And to hear periodic grunts courtesy of tennis extraordinaire Venus Williams.

Yes, the New Zealand Festival of Tennis (Heineken Open x ASB Classic) is back for another year with international names like Caroline Wozniacki, David Ferrer and John Isner serving from the ASB Tennis Arena's baseline. Follow up the fortnight-long festival with a serving of beats from Peking Duk, Jupiter Project, Electric Wire Hustle, Chelsea Jade and Dan Aux at the official Heineken Baseline After Party on the 17th.

For those looking to regale friends with tennis factoids while watching the game, some history and trivia (as per Wikipedia):
A rudimentary version of tennis ('jeu de palme', commonly known as 'hand ball' for those who don't do French) was believed to have been invented in the 12th century France, with King Louis X being a keen player. King Louis X later died after one particularly exhausting match (pneumonia or pleurisy may have been to blame, but who knows). Due to his unusual death he became known as the first recorded tennis player in history.

A few centuries later, around the 16th century, racquets were introduced, and the game was rebranding as 'tennis' - again taken from French, the word 'tenez' meaning to hold or take. This became known as the 'real tennis' we play today. Tennis is one of a few sports to lay claim to the bragging rights of having been a part of the first modern Olympics in 1896.

Tickets are on sale now, ranging from $13.50 to $73.50, depending on your comfort requirements and which day you go watch. We certainly recommend picking up yourself a ground pass to get a feel for the event, hang out at the Heineken Baseline, bean bags, beers and top notch tasty treats like Best Ugly bagels and The Grill burgers.

Win one of two double ground passes to the Heineken Open on Wednesday, 14 January 2015 (6:30pm session) and Thursday, 15 January 2015 (6:30pm session). Simply email [email protected] with the header "Heineken Open", your name, contact details and which date suits (Wed or Thu) to be in to win. You must be subscribed to our mailing list to win.